Sign up to receive free email alerts when patent applications with chosen keywords are publishedSIGN UP

Abstract:

A wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system is
proposed, which is characterized by the use of a sensor network such as
WSN (wireless sensor network) installed at the remote site for collecting
ecological data, and the use of a public wireless communication system
such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) for transferring
all the collected ecological data to a back-end host server unit where
the ecological data are compiled into webpages for posting on a website.
This feature allows the research/management personnel to browse the
ecological data simply by linking a network workstation via a network
system such as the Internet to the website, without having to travel to
the remote site and collect ecological data by human labor.

Claims:

1. A wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system which
is based on a network system and a wireless communication system for
remote monitoring of the surrounding ecological environment of a remote
site, and which comprises:a sensor network, which includes a cluster of
sensor nodes installed at multiple locations in the remote site, and
wherein each sensor node is capable of producing a set of ecological data
about the ecological conditions of the surrounding environment where the
sensor network is installed;a front-end gateway unit, which is capable of
providing a front-end gateway function for the sensor network to transmit
the collected ecological data in a specific transmission data format to
the wireless communication system for wireless forwarding to a
prespecified subscriber's wireless communication mail address; anda
back-end host server unit, which is linked to the prespecified
subscriber's wireless communication mail address for receiving the
ecological data forwarded by the front-end gateway unit via the wireless
communication system, and further capable of storing the received
ecological data into a database and compiling the ecological data into a
set of webpages for posting on a website that allows a network
workstation to gain access to the website for user-browsing of the
ecological data.

2. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 1, wherein the network system is Internet.

3. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 1, wherein the network system is an intranet system.

4. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 1, wherein the network system is an extranet system.

5. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 1, wherein the network system is a LAN (Local Area Network) system.

6. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 1, wherein the wireless communication system is GSM (Global System
for Mobile Communications).

8. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 7, wherein the WSN system utilizes the Zigbee wireless
communication protocol for wireless linking of the sensor nodes.

9. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 7, wherein the WSN system utilizes the Bluetooth wireless
communication protocol for wireless linking of the sensor nodes.

14. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 1, wherein the data transmission format used by the front-end
gateway unit for wireless data communication with the back-end host
server unit is GPRS (General Packet Radio Service).

15. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 1, wherein the database in the back-end host server unit is MySQL.

16. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 1, wherein the front-end gateway unit includes a clock
synchronization function for clock synchronization of all the sensor
nodes in the sensor network.

19. A wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system
which is based on a network system and a GSM (Global System for Mobile
Communications) system for remote monitoring of the surrounding
ecological environment of a remote site, and which comprises:a wireless
sensor network (WSN) system, which includes a cluster of sensor nodes
installed at multiple locations in the remote site, and wherein each
sensor node is capable of producing a set of ecological data about the
ecological conditions of the surrounding environment where the WSN system
is installed;a front-end gateway unit, which is capable of providing a
front-end gateway function for the WSN system to transmit the collected
ecological data in a specific transmission data format to the GSM system
for wireless forwarding to a prespecified subscriber's wireless
communication mail address; anda back-end host server unit, which is
linked to the prespecified subscriber's wireless communication mail
address for receiving the ecological data forwarded by the front-end
gateway unit via the GSM system, and further capable of storing the
received ecological data into a database and compiling the ecological
data into a set of webpages for posting on a website that allows a
network workstation to gain access to the website for user-browsing of
the ecological data.

20. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 19, wherein the network system is Internet, an intranet system, an
extranet system, or a LAN (Local Area Network) system.

21. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 19, wherein the WSN system utilizes the Zigbee wireless
communication protocol for wireless linking of the sensor nodes.

22. The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system of
claim 19, wherein the WSN system utilizes the Bluetooth wireless
communication protocol for wireless linking of the sensor nodes.

Description:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001]1. Field of the Invention

[0002]This invention relates to ecological environment monitoring
technology, and more particularly, to a wireless-linked remote ecological
environment monitoring system which is based on a network system and a
wireless communication system for monitoring the ecological environment
of a remotely-located site, such as a farmland or a garden.

[0003]2. Description of Related Art

[0004]In agricultural research and management, it is an important task to
monitor the ecological environment of a farmland used to cultivate crops
such as fruits, rice, and vegetables. The main purpose is to collect a
set of ecological data that are considered as vital factors that would
significantly affect the cultivation and growth of crops on the farmland.
These ecological data include, for example, number of clustered pests
(such as fruit flies) per unit area, temperature, humidity, sunlight
intensity, and wind speed, to name a few. Research personnel can analyze
these ecological data for effective management of the farmland to achieve
optimized crop production.

[0005]Traditionally, the collection of ecological data from farmlands is
carried out by human labor work. For example, the number of pests per
unit area is collected by firstly using a net to capture a group of pests
within a certain area, and then visually counting the total number of
pests being captured in the net, and finally using statistical methods to
estimate the total number of pests within the entire area. All these
works are carried out by human labor. For collection of climate-related
ecological data (temperature, humidity, sunlight intensity, wind speed,
etc.), this task is traditionally carried out by installing temperature
sensors, humidity sensors, sunlight intensity sensors, wind speed sensors
on the farmland; and the sensed data are visually inspected and manually
recorded by the research/management personnel. The collected ecological
data are then analyzed and compiled by the research personnel into
written reports. These written reports are then used as references for
management of the farmland to achieve optimized crop production. For
example, if the number of pests per unit area is considered to be overly
large, pest-killing or expelling means should be provided; if
temperature/humidity is too high, conditioning means should be installed;
and if the wind speed is too high, wind-shielding means should be
installed.

[0006]One apparent drawback to the labor-based work for ecological data
collection is that it is quite tedious, laborious, and time-consuming for
the research/management personnel to carry out. Moreover, if the farmland
is located at a remote site, such as a distant mountain or rural place,
the research/management personnel might have to spend lots of time and
cost in the travel to the farmland.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007]It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a
wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system which
allows the research/management personnel to monitor the ecological
environment of a remotely located farmland or garden without requiring
the research/management personnel to travel to the farmland and collect
ecological data by human labor.

[0008]The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system
according to the invention is based on a network system (such as
Internet) and a wireless communication system (such as GSM) for
performing a remote ecological environment monitoring function that can
remotely collect data about the ecological environment of a
remotely-located site, such as farmland or garden.

[0010]The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system
according to the invention is characterized by the use of a WSN system
installed at the remote site for collecting ecological data, and the use
of a public wireless communication system such as GSM for transferring
all the collected ecological data to a back-end host server unit where
the ecological data are compiled into webpages for posting on a website.
This feature allows the research/management personnel to browse the
ecological data simply by linking a network workstation via a network
system such as the Internet to the website, without having to travel to
the remote site and collect ecological data by human labor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0011]The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following
detailed description of the preferred embodiments, with reference made to
the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0012]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the architecture of the remote
ecological environment monitoring system of the invention;

[0013]FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the functional model of the
remote ecological environment monitoring system of the invention;

[0014]FIG. 3A is a schematic diagram showing a ring topology used by the
remote ecological environment monitoring system of the invention for
configuration of a WSN system;

[0015]FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram showing a tree topology used by the
remote ecological environment monitoring system of the invention for
configuration of a WSN system;

[0016]FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram used to depict the condition of a
failure of a certain sensor node in the WSN system;

[0017]FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram showing the same of FIG. 4A after a
failed link auto-redirecting operation has been performed to the WSN
system;

[0018]FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a webpage
produced by the remote ecological environment monitoring system of the
invention and displayed on a network workstation for user browsing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019]The wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system
according to the invention is disclosed in full details by way of
preferred embodiments in the following with reference to the accompanying
drawings.

APPLICATION OF THE INVENTION

[0020]FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the application of the
wireless-linked remote ecological environment monitoring system according
to the invention (which is hereinafter referred to in short as "remote
ecological environment monitoring system and indicated by the reference
numeral 30). As shown, the remote ecological environment monitoring
system of the invention 30 is designed for providing a remote ecological
environment monitoring function for allowing the user (i.e.,
research/management personnel) at a local site to monitor the ecological
environment of a remotely-located site, such as a farmland or a garden
and collect ecological data such as temperature, humidity, sunlight
intensity, wind speed, and number of clustered pests (such as fruit
flies). In construction, the remote ecological environment monitoring
system of the invention 30 is used in conjunction and based on a network
system 10 and a wireless communication system 20.

[0021]In practice, for example, the network system 10 can be implemented
with the Internet, an intranet, an extranet, or a LAN (Local Area
Network) system, which allows a network workstation 11 to be linked to
the remote ecological environment monitoring system of the invention 30,
so that the user of the network workstation 11 (i.e., research/management
personnel) can use a browser program to browse the ecological data that
have been collected by the remote ecological environment monitoring
system of the invention 30 from the remote site.

[0022]The wireless communication system 20 can be implemented with, for
example, the GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) system or
other type of wireless communication system. Since the remote ecological
environment monitoring system of the invention 30 is based on a
distributed architecture which includes a front-end installation and a
back-end installation, it is an important aspect of the invention that a
wireless communication system such as the GSM system 20 is utilized for
wireless connection between the front-end installation and the back-end
installation.

FUNCTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023]FIG. 2 shows the functional model of the remote ecological
environment monitoring system of the invention 30. As shown, the remote
ecological environment monitoring system of the invention 30 is used for
gathering a collection of ecological data from the remote site, which
include, but not limited to, GPS (Global Positioning System) data,
temperature data, humidity data, sunlight data, wind speed data, and pest
number data, and is further used for compiling all the collected
ecological data into a set of webpages for posting on a website to allow
the research/management personnel to use the network workstation 11 to
browse the ecological data through the network system 10 (such as
Internet).

ARCHITECTURE OF THE INVENTION

[0024]As shown in FIG. 3, in architecture, the remote ecological
environment monitoring system of the invention 30 comprises: (A) a sensor
network 100; (B) a front-end gateway unit 200; and (C) a back-end host
server unit 300. Firstly, the respective attributes and functions of
these constituent system components of the invention are described in
details in the following.

Sensor Network 100

[0025]The sensor network 100 can be implemented with a cable-linked or a
wireless-linked type of sensor network, and preferably implemented with a
WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) system. In the following preferred
embodiment, it will be assumed that the sensor network 100 is implemented
with a WSN system. In this case, the WSN system 100 is composed of a
clustered array of sensor nodes 110, such as a microprocessor-based
sensor device under control of the TinyOS operating system (which is a
well-known operating system for WSN node devices). All the sensor nodes
110 of the WSN system 100 are wireless linked to each other by using a
standard wireless communication protocol, such as Zigbee or Bluetooth.

[0026]In operation, each sensor node 110 is capable of sensing the
surrounding ecological environment for gather a set of ecological data
such as GPS data, temperature data, humidity data, sunlight data, and
wind speed data (note that these sensing functions can also be
alternatively by built-in sensing functions in the front-end gateway unit
200), and can be further externally coupled with a pest-counting device
120 capable of counting the number of a cluster of pests, such as fruit
flies, by luring them into a trapping container and sensing the number of
pests that have entered into the trapping container.

[0027]The above-mentioned pest-counting device 120 is preferably
implemented with a multi-checkpoint type clustered animal counting
device, whose architecture is disclosed in the applicant's another patent
application entitled "MULTI-CHECKPOINT TYPE CLUSTERED ANIMAL COUNTING
DEVICE". This patent-pending multi-checkpoint type clustered animal
counting device is capable of counting the number of a clustered group of
pests (such as fruit flies) by luring them to enter into a trapping room
and using at two checkpoints for triggering a counter. However, various
other types of pest-counting devices are usable.

[0028]In practice, the WSN system 100 is configured based on a
predetermined topology for linking together all the sensor nodes 110 that
allows the sensor nodes 110 to transmit data in a multihop routing method
to the front-end gateway unit 200. In practice, the topology used for
configuring the WSN system 100 can be a ring topology as shown in FIG.
3A, or a tree topology as shown in FIG. 3B. In terms of data transmission
efficiency, the tree topology shown in FIG. 3B is more preferable for use
than the ring topology.

Front-End Gateway Unit 200

[0029]The front-end gateway unit 200 is capable of providing a front-end
gateway function for the WSN system 100 to transmit the collected
ecological data in a specific transmission data format to the GSM system
20 for forwarding to a prespecified subscriber's wireless communication
mail address assigned to the back-end host server unit 300; and also
capable of receiving a set of management control commands issued by the
back-end host server unit 300 via the GSM system 20 and forwarding these
commands to the WSN system 100 for management control of the sensor nodes
110.

[0030]Moreover, this front-end gateway unit 200 is preferably equipped
with a GPS (Global Positioning System) function for detecting the
geographical location where the remotely-monitored area is located. This
GPS function can generate a set of geographical location data in
electronic form for indicating the longitude and altitude of the location
where the remotely-monitored area (farmland or garden) is located.

[0031]In addition, the front-end gateway unit 200 can be equipped with a
set built-in sensing functions for sensing, for example, the temperature,
humidity, sunlight, and wind speed conditions of the surrounding
ecological environment. In the case that the research/management
personnel wants to collect widespread ecological data from multiple
locations in a wide area, the sensor nodes 110 of the WSN system 100 can
be activated for sensing these ecological data. On the other hand, in the
case that these ecological data can be collected from just one location
in the monitored area, then these built-in sensing functions can be
enabled to collect a single set of ecological data about temperature,
humidity, sunlight, and wind speed that generically represent the
ecological conditions of the monitored area.

[0033]In operation, the front-end gateway unit 200 will first perform a
configuration operation on the sensor nodes 110 of the WSN system 100
based on a predetermined topology for linking together all the sensor
nodes 110 in a wireless manner that allows each sensor node 110 to
exchange data with the front-end gateway unit 200 by a multihop routing
method. The WSN topology is preferably a tree topology shown in FIG. 3B
for providing high data transmission efficiency. In practice, for
example, the data communication between the front-end gateway unit 200
and each sensor node 110 of the WSN system 100 is based on the standard
S-MAC (Sensor Media Access Control) data communication protocol.

[0034]Moreover, during initialization, the front-end gateway unit 200 is
capable of performing a clock synchronization operation on the WSN system
100 for clock synchronization of all the sensor nodes 110, so that all
the ecological data collected by different sensor nodes 110 at the same
time can be tagged with the same time data. In practice, for example, the
clock synchronization operation performed by the front-end gateway unit
200 can be based on an RBS (Reference Broadcast Synchronization) method
or a TPSN (Timing-sync Protocol for Sensor Networks) method. Since both
the RBS and TPSN methods are conventional technology, detailed
description thereof will not be given in this specification.

[0035]In addition, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4B, the front-end gateway
unit 200 is further equipped with a failed-link auto-redirecting function
that can respond to a node-failure event in the WSN system 100, i.e., a
sensor node 110a fails such that all the other sensor nodes 110b that are
linked to the failed sensor nodes 110a are isolated from the front-end
gateway unit 200, by relinking all these isolated sensor nodes 110b to a
good sensor node 110c, so that these sensor nodes 110b can
notwithstanding communicate with the front-end gateway unit 200 via the
newly-linked good sensor node 110c.

[0036]In practical implementation, the front-end gateway unit 200 can be
realized in various different manners, such as by using a personal
computer (PC) unit or a programmable embedded microprocessor system. The
advantage of using a PC unit for realization is that it has better system
expandability for incorporating additional functions; whereas the
advantage of using a programmable embedded microprocessor system is that
it can operate with less electrical power consumption.

Back-End Host Server Unit 300

[0037]The back-end host server unit 300 is linked to the GSM system 20 as
a subscriber to the GSM's mail service for receiving and processing the
ecological data forwarded by the front-end gateway unit 200 in
GSM-compliant data format via the GSM system 20. The received ecological
data are stored in a relational database, such as MySQL. In operation,
this back-end host server unit 300 includes a website hosting function
and a remote management control function.

[0038]The website hosting function is capable of hosting a website with a
set of dynamic webpages that are created based on the ecological data
received via the GSM system 20 from the front-end gateway unit 200 and
stored in the MySQL database, so as to allow the research/management
personnel to browse the collected ecological data simply by linking
his/her network workstation 11 via the network system 10 to the website,
as depicted in FIG. 5. In practice, for example, the ecological data
(which include GPS data, temperature data, humidity data, sunlight data,
wind speed data, and pest number data) can be presented in the webpages
in various styles, such as tables, diagrams, and graphs. Moreover, the
monitored area can be presented in a digitized map or satellite photo to
show the locations of all the sensor nodes 110 of the WSN system 100,
with each sensor node 110 being linked to its collected ecological data.
In practice, the LabView program is used for building a user-machine
interface for the webpages, but any other programs of similar
functionality are usable. The ecological data can be shown individually
(i.e., specific to each sensor node 110) or collectively (i.e., specific
to the entire monitored area). Moreover, the ecological data can be shown
on a daily basis or a periodical basis (i.e., weekly, monthly, quarterly,
and yearly). Furthermore, the webpages can further include an interactive
database query and search function that allows the user to search for
specific ecological data from the MySQL database, such as the ecological
data collected at a specific location or during a specific time period.

[0039]The remote management control function is capable of performing a
set of remote management control operations on the remotely-situated WSN
system 100 and front-end gateway unit 200. These remote management
control operations can be user-initiated or host-initiated. When
activated, the back-end host server unit 300 will issue and transmit a
set of management control commands via the GSM system 20 to the front-end
gateway unit 200 and the WSN system 100. In practice, the management
control operations include, for example, power on/off control, clock
synchronization, and sensor node initialization. In addition, the remote
management control function further includes an optimized routing path
computation capability that can be used to determine an optimized routing
path based on the topology of the WSN system 100 for the purpose of
allowing each sensor node 110 of the WSN system 100 to transmit data to
the front-end gateway unit 200 along an optimized routing path (i.e., the
shortest possible path). The resulted control parameters for the
optimized routing path are then transmitted via the GSM system 20 and
forwarded by the front-end gateway unit 200 to each sensor node 110 of
the WSN system 100.

OPERATION OF THE INVENTION

[0040]The following is a detailed description of a practical application
example of the remote ecological environment monitoring system of the
invention 30 in actual operation. In this application example, it is
assumed that the invention is utilized for remote monitoring of a
farmland for collecting a set of ecological data about the surrounding
ecological environment of the farmland, including temperature, humidity,
sunlight intensity, wind speed, and number of clustered pests (such as
fruit flies).

[0041]During actual operation, each sensor node 110 of the WSN system 100
will sense its surrounding environment for acquiring a set of ecological
data (i.e., temperature, humidity, sunlight intensity, wind speed, and
number of clustered pests), and then transfer these data in a multihop
manner to the front-end gateway unit 200 for forwarding in SMS or GPRS
format via the GSM system 20 to the back-end host server unit 300.

[0042]At the local site, the back-end host server unit 300 receives the
uploaded ecological data in SMS/GPRS format, and then retrieves the
original ecological data from the SMS/GPRS data stream. The retrieved
ecological data (i.e., OPS data, temperature data, humidity data,
sunlight data, wind speed data, and pest number data) are then stored
into a relational database such as MySQL database.

[0043]The ecological data stored in the MYSQL database will be
periodically (such as daily or weekly) processed by the back-end host
server unit 300 to create a set of webpages that present the ecological
data (GPS data, temperature data, humidity data, sunlight data, wind
speed data, and pest number data) in various styles, such as tables,
diagrams, and graphs. Moreover, the monitored area can be presented in a
digitized map or satellite photo to show the locations of all the sensor
nodes 110 of the WSN system 100, with each sensor node 110 being linked
to its collected ecological data. These webpages are then posted by the
back-end host server unit 300 on a website, so that the
research/management personnel can use a network workstation 11 for
linking via the network system 10 to the website to browse the ecological
data shown in these webpages (as depicted in FIG. 5). Moreover, these
webpages also provide an interactive database query and search function
that allows the user to search for specific ecological data from the
MySQL database in the back-end host server unit 300, such as the
ecological data collected at a specific location or during a specific
time period

[0044]In conclusion, the invention provides a wireless-linked remote
ecological environment monitoring system which is characterized by the
use of a WSN system installed at the remote site for collecting
ecological data, and the use of a public wireless communication system
such as OSM for transferring all the collected ecological data to a
back-end host server unit where the ecological data are compiled into
webpages for posting on a website. This feature allows the
research/management personnel to browse the ecological data simply by
linking a network workstation via a network system such as the Internet
to the website, without having to travel to the-remote site and collect
ecological data by human labor. The invention is therefore more
advantageous to use than the prior art.

[0045]The invention has been described using exemplary preferred
embodiments. However, it is to be understood that the scope of the
invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary,
it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements.
The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest
interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar
arrangements.

Patent applications by Chia-Pang Chen, Taipei TW

Patent applications by Chwan-Lu Tseng, Taipei TW

Patent applications by En-Cheng Yang, Taipei TW

Patent applications by Fu-Ming Lu, Taipei TW

Patent applications by Joe-Air Jiang, Taipei TW

Patent applications by Tzu-Shiang Lin, Taipei TW

Patent applications by NATIONAL TAIWAN UNIVERSITY

Patent applications in class Having a plurality of contiguous regions served by respective fixed stations

Patent applications in all subclasses Having a plurality of contiguous regions served by respective fixed stations